This was inspired by the 'Ask Mr Lizard' portion of the old TV show 'Dinosaurs', and done with my son as a way of introducing certain physics concepts in an entertaining manner.
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"Today on 'Ask Mr. Kerman', we're going to achieve several milestones! First, we're going to test out our new 'Hammer' solid fuel booster, keeping our still limited budget in mind, and if we are very lucky, we might even send the first Kerbal out of the atmosphere and into space. And to help us today, is Jeb! Say, Jeb. Would you like to go to space today?"
"Boy, would I ever!"
"Then sign this Waiver of Indemnity, and climb aboard!"
"Gee, Mr. Kerman. That doesn't seem like a very big ship."
"You're right, it isn't. In fact, due to budget restraints and the limitations of our ship designing bay, it is little more than a command pod attached to the Hammer SFB. But don't worry, to keep you pointed in the right direction, we've also got three equadistant fins. We've even installed a parachute in your nose cone. But the other reason the ship is so small is because of what we like to call the thrust to weight ratio. Because it's not just the size of the kick in the pants you get, it is the ratio between the kick in the pants your booster gives you, compared to how much pants you have to kick in the vessel. So keeping it small and compact like this means you get to go higher! Plus is the least expensive vessel our engineers could come up with that had at least a reasonable chance of achieving our goals."
"Oh, wow. That sounds cool! Will I get to go into orbit today?"
"It won't be a very big orbit, but yes, technically, you will be in an orbit of some description if you can escape the atmosphere."
"Wow! Okay, I'm all strapped in! Let 'er rip!"
Kiddo: We're going to need another Jeb, aren't we?
"Initial test of the brand new 'Hammer' solid fuel booster in three... two... one..."
Of course, solid fuel boosters don't have throttling, and can't be turned off until they burn out. Needless to say, considering the total weight of the ship was on the order of five tons, the acceleration rate was quite impressive.
"Woooooowwwwwwww... it's getting hot in here..."
Kiddo: We're going to need another Jeb?
"That's because you have accellerated to the point that air resistance is slowing you down, translating the force from acceleration into heat energy. But don't worry, you don't have much burn time left, hold it together."
The vessel reaches a top speed of almost 1,200 m/s at a height of 25 km when the booster burns out. Of course, momentum being what it is, he kept going up. When he reached 60 km, Mr Kerman sent another transmission.
"Jeb? I need you to record temperature, pressure, and activate one of those goo canisters now. Just put that button right there."
"Wow! I'm doing SCIENCE! Am I in space yet?"
"Almost there..."
The vessel reaches the critical 70 km mark, and cheers erupt in Control, having successfully tested the Hammer booster AND sent a Kerbal into orbit!
"Jeb? Now that you are officially in space, could you run those experiments and radio the data back to us again?"
"What? Oh, wow! Sure. Here you go. Look at me! I'm doing SCIENCE! IN SPAAAAAACE!"
"You sure are, Jeb. You sure are." As Mr. Kerman closed the com channel, he looks over to another desk, that gives him a thumbs up "Send the data over to the boffins. I'm sure they'll be able to do something with it."
The ship reaches the Periapsis at 105 km and Jeb radios back "Umm.. Mr. Kerman. If I'm in space, how will I get down?"
"Oh, don't worry about that, Jeb. Technically, you are in what we call a Decaying Orbit. That means you don't have enough energy to achieve escape velocity, and you don't have enough lateral vee to achieve a stable orbit. Which means that, sooner or later, you'll come right back down. I promise."
Kiddo: We're going to need another Jeb, aren't we?
"Hey, Mr. Kerman! I'm taking a selfie with Kerbal in the background! Best selfie ever!"
"Say, would you mind texting me that selfie, Jeb? After all, you'll be quite the celebrity, being the first Kerbal in space and all."
"Yea, sure thing. Oh, when should I start deploying the parachutes?"
"Oh Jeb, parachutes don't work in space. They work by catching air and increasing air resistance. But there's no air up there to catch. You'll have to wait until you get lower to the ground before you can deploy that parachute."
As the ship reaches 70km again, the speed of the vessel is already 500 m/s and climbing. At 60 km, it does a nose-over and points its nose directly prograde, having achieved 750 m/s and climbing.
Kiddo: Yea, we're definitely going to need another Jeb, aren't we?
As the vessel reaches 40 km and a speed of 1,000 m/s, Jeb radios in "Uhh... Mr. Kerman? It's getting really hot in here again."
"That's because you're bleeding off acceleration again, just like you did on the way up, and that bled off energy translates into heat. But don't worry, you're facing your nose 'into the wind', so you'll slice through it as easily as possible. So you won't be burning up in re-entry."
"Oh. Okay. That's good, I guess."
At 20 km, the ship was still moving at around 900 m/s, and Jeb radios back "Uhh... should I deploy my parachute now? The ground seems to be coming up awfully fast."
"It won't do you any good, Jeb. You're going much too fast, it would just rip off as soon as it was deployed. Maximum velocity for deploying your parachute is three hundred meters per second. But don't worry, because you angled on the ascent, you're going to splash down into the bay."
"Oh, a water splashdown. That should be safe, right?" As the altimeter spun rapidly downward, there was utter silence over the radio. "Uhh... Mr. Kerman?"
Kiddo: Say it! Say it!
The Kerbal Space Exploder Mk. II impacted the surface of the water at 773 m/s, with unfortunate results for the vessel and its inhabitant."
"We're going to need another Jeb!"
Kiddo erupts in cackling laughter
And that, my friends, is the reason that picture, in its grainy phone-camera resolution, is hung here in the halls of the complex. The first Kerbal to have ever left the atmosphere. His expression of pure joy and the breathtaking background of part of the command pod and the curve of Kerbal giving it an awe-inspiring feel. Plus it was worth a couple extra science for a crew report from orbit. The image went viral across Kerbal, inspiring dozens of future Jebs to flock to the Kerbal Space Program for recruitment, the fruits of the government-funded and neglected education program yielding perhaps the most profitable fruits since the invention of the production line.
So whenever the call went out "We need another Jeb!", there was never any shortage of volunteers.
